Outside Drain Clogging What is the best solution

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Hi

I have an outside drain in an enclosed alley way. Especially this year it seems to be draining slow especially on heavy downpours and creates a one inch of backed up water that eventually drains. I want to know the best way to unclog this drain. If a bacteria method is recommened is Bio-Clean still the way to go? I looked at older posts and it seems this product was the recommended one.

Thanks for the assistance.
 

WorthFlorida

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Rent a power auger or a jetter. If you have a pressure washer, you can buy a jetter hose, maybe better to rent one, they are excellent but not very common. https://www.cloghog.com/


snake-machine-01.jpg
 
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Sylvan

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I totally agree never use Chemicals

Ideally you want to snake the k line to get some flow then water Jet it to scour the drain to restore full flow as originally designed

Actually today I heading out @ 8 am to do my yearly water Jetting of storm lines and then snaking the main sewer /storm lines
 

Drain Dude

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Hi

I have an outside drain in an enclosed alley way. Especially this year it seems to be draining slow especially on heavy downpours and creates a one inch of backed up water that eventually drains. I want to know the best way to unclog this drain. If a bacteria method is recommened is Bio-Clean still the way to go? I looked at older posts and it seems this product was the recommended one.

Thanks for the assistance.

Is there any bushes or trees nearby? If so, odds are roots are intruding into the line more often than not. A heavy duty snake 1/2" cable would be required to clear it. If there is no vegetation nearby it could just be debris that have fallen into the line over the years and it would clear by running the same heavy duty machine. These clogs can be simple or difficult depending on what is causing the blockage. Roots can be rough to clear. Good luck.
 

Sylvan

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Is there any bushes or trees nearby? If so, odds are roots are intruding into the line more often than not. A heavy duty snake 1/2" cable would be required to clear it. If there is no vegetation nearby it could just be debris that have fallen into the line over the years and it would clear by running the same heavy duty machine. These clogs can be simple or difficult depending on what is causing the blockage. Roots can be rough to clear. Good luck.


Roots are very easy to clear GREASE is the hard type of stoppages
 

Drain Dude

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It can be easy.... if your'e in a part of the country where roots are aggressive and invade the line often, they cannot always be cleared. The roots will just bind the cable, even if you use blades. In my area, outside drains are put in by landscapers and they use the cheapest PVC, I've gotten cables stuck but I know how to get them out. The jetters will tear thru the thin PVC. Snakes can do the trick though... Best of luck
 

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Yeah, grease does suck.... especially on island style kitchen sinks. Loop vents and no clean outs. The pipe will fill with water and flood the house at a high psi from the jetter
 

Sylvan

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It can be easy.... if your'e in a part of the country where roots are aggressive and invade the line often, they cannot always be cleared. The roots will just bind the cable, even if you use blades. In my area, outside drains are put in by landscapers and they use the cheapest PVC, I've gotten cables stuck but I know how to get them out. The jetters will tear thru the thin PVC. Snakes can do the trick though... Best of luck

Never use a Jetter for roots, rags and really compacted grease .

Jetting is more of a finishing tool and great for soft stoppages such as non compacted grease or soil

For massive amounts of roots I use a 3/4" cable up to 6" and then rely on my Electric eel 11/4 cables with inner core and it worked amazing well up to 30" storm lines

Unlike a Jetter a cable machine can be put in reverse which you cannot do with a Jetter

If you use caution and go SLOWLY in a line and work the cutting head properly after a while all the roots can be removed .

Then go for a yearly cleaning


The reason I like Jetting is I charge over $350 PER Half hour and it takes time to water Jet a line properly

Snaking goes a lot faster

Sm

IMG_0162.JPG
 

Drain Dude

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Main line jetters work great in my area for heavy roots any mainline machine cannot clear. Yes, there are sewers that will have stronger roots than any commercial mainline cabling machines torque. I enjoy snaking and cutting out the roots a lot better but the tow behind jetter is best for roots in my area.
 

Sylvan

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Always use a jetter on kitchen lines when applicable.

I use the water Jetter on all kitchen waste lines AFTER I snake the lines to establish flow and for inside work I keep a WET DRY right by the inlet of the waste line just in case there is waste back flowing

Wed I will be water jetting several apartment houses 5" kitchen lines and several outside leader lines

I used to give classes on water Jetting and snaking .

My first question is which is usually better More pressure or more volume

Second question was better with hot or cold water Jetting grease lines

IMG_0151.JPG
 

Sylvan

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3/4 " x 100 ' cable and a 1/2" Jetter hose 3,000 PSI @ 12 GPM working to clear a 6" trench drain by a commercial garage .

Quoted $450 per half hr as working alone can be challenging at my age and all my employees were working on other jobs

This job took 4 HOURS as it was never maintained . Preventive maintenance is very important

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Hi everyone and I will like to thank everyone for their responses. I figured out what the cause is and I will have to open up a new thread. I was watching the alley way during some of the Ida and other storms that have gone through. The alleyway does not backup. Also peaking down the drainpipe I can see clean white PVC. However when my area gets hit with a lot of water in a short period of time that drain pipe start shooting water up. I think in tied sewer storm drain system my city cannot handle flood warning level of water and the water is from the backed up drains system which is probably close to a hundred years old. I will open a new post. Also I a really appreciate everyone's comment very helpful!
 
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hi, there I should have put some info out here. So here is the scoop. The alleyway gets water-clogged due to a surge of water from the roof. The flat roof has one outside drain pipe that runs on the side of the building. Then it runs underground through the alleyway. The alleyway has one drain in the middle. So when there is a lot of water from the roof the water shoots up in the alleyway drain. WorthFlorida gave me that suggestion of where the water is coming from. I can't control the volume however I did listen to Terry and a couple of months ago applied an enzyme treatment over a couple of weeks. Just in case any clogs are also contributing to this.
 
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howdy actually the alleyway is private. The city is responsible for the street. However they do depending on the situation will bring in a truck to cleanup storm drains and sewer lines on the street if the property owner can prove its the city and not the property owner pipes causing the problem.
 
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